The suit, which was filed last February 2009, alleged the Katherine Nichols was fired from her job after she testified in a federal investigation involving Nicholas. She previously worked at The Management Co., which is partially owned by Nicholas from
June 2007 to June 2008. Subsequently, the charges against Nicholas for federal securities fraud and drug distribution were dropped.

The jury however, in a vote of nine to three, decided against Nichols’ wrongful termination claim. Neither will the ex-aide receive any damages for her lawsuit as the termination of her employment appeared not to be based on her involvement and testimony in the federal investigation but on her failure to show up for work for at least two months.

Oftentimes, when an employee is fired from his job, the employee would often feel that it’s unfair or that his rights have been abused. While bitterness is a natural reaction to termination, there are certain instances when an employee can be considered to be illegally dismissed.

An employee can rightfully file a wrongful termination claim against his employer if he was fired because of discrimination based on his/her sex, race, color, religion, and disability; in violation or breach of his employment contract; or in violation of public policy (i.e. availing of FMLA benefits).

While most employers would anchor their defenses on “at-will employment” thus terminating an employee can be done at will and for any reason, the above-mentioned reasons are illegal and would constitute wrongful termination.

Also, aside from discrimination, breach of contract, and violation of public policy, an employee can also be considered illegally dismissed if he/she was fired because of retaliation, in contravention of implied contract and breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealings.

But just like Nichols’ case, wrongful termination can be difficult to prove and oftentimes, it’s the employee’s word against the employer. Thus, it is very important to hire an expert employment attorney to assess your claim and handle your case. They would be able to determine, through documents and interviews in preparing your case, whether or not your claim would prosper. Otherwise, if there was too little groundwork later on in a trial, your whole case can collapse because of any evidence that might defeat your claim.

Quite a huge sum actually the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has obtained $16.8 million worth of monetary benefits from pregnancy discrimination charges in 2009 alone.

Recently, Brandi Cochran, a former model for the long-time running game show “The Price Is Right” has sued the show for pregnancy discrimination.

In her lawsuit, Cochran claimed that as far back as 2007, she experienced harassment and stress over her pregnancy – when she suffered a miscarriage, a producer allegedly told her that it was nature’s way of getting rid of a bad baby.

When she became pregnant with twins again in 2008, a producer reacted negatively to the news and that another producer made a derogatory comment about a “wide load coming through” when she walked past.

She eventually lost her job after experiencing complications from her pregnancy and had to be on disability.

Under the law, employers are prohibited from treating women less favorably (harassment and termination) because of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Likewise, a pregnant employee who is unable to perform her jobs because of her condition should be treated the same as a temporarily disabled employee.

However, harassment and discrimination still continue to persist against pregnant employees. All too often, employers see them as a “liability” because of their condition despite the fact that pregnancy is as natural and biological as one’s skin color, disability and gender.

Pregnancy harassment in the workplace is any physical, verbal, or written conduct that is unwelcome and offensive. Examples include demeaning comments, offensive jokes or gestures, pictures or sketches that related to pregnancy which can create a hostile work environment.

Pregnant employees who are discriminated and harassed on the basis of their condition have a right to file a complaint against an employer who has made her work conditions adverse or at the worst case scenario, fired her because of her pregnancy.

However, it should be noted that there are certain requirements in filing a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit. Legal experts, particularly employment lawyers should be consulted first before filing a claim to serve as a guide through the whole process.

According to the authorities, Jesse himself reported the attack when one of the family’s pet Rottweilers mauled his daughter. Although Ashlynn was airlifted to the Oregon Health and Science University Hospital in Portland, she was pronounced dead on the scene.

Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin claimed that four months ago, a family member was also attacked by another one of their Rottweiler pets. The dog was euthanized following the attack.
The Rottweilers involved in Ashlynn’s death are currently under the custody of a local animal shelter. The Browning family may choose to put down the dogs, set it up for adoption or take them back to the house.

While dogs are often considered to be man’s best friend, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, every year around 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs. As much as 31,000 people underwent reconstructive surgery because of dog bite injuries while 885,000 needed medical attention.

Most fatal dog attacks however, involve babies and young children. Senior citizens also account for the second highest number of dog bite injuries and fatalities.

While some dog breeds are inherently dangerous (i.e. pitbulls), the owner’s negligence is often the proximate cause of dog attacks. For one, as the owner of the dog, it is the owner’s responsibility to train and socialize his/her pet as well as ensure that it is kept under control.

The owner has the duty to keep the dog leashed especially in public and if at home, properly fenced in. Sometimes, aggressive breeds are also required to be spayed and neutered in order to reduce its aggressive tendencies.

As important as it is to love and take care of pets, human life is no less important. Children, especially those at the curious stage could easily wander into an unsecured area with a territorial dog. Pedestrians and guests could also unwittingly stumble into situations where an unleashed dog can easily attack them.

Under the law, dog owners are civilly and in some states, criminally liable for the injuries their pets would inflict on other people. In a previous case in California, it was held that “The owner is virtually an insurer of the dog’s conduct” and in the event that the owner’s negligence results to injuries, the victim of the dog attack can recover damages from the owner.

For 21-year old John Avinger who is driving his Cadillac SRX at a high rate of speed, the proverb was proved to be tragically true.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Avinger lost control of his car while driving fast at the carpool lane and he veered across all lanes before striking the sound wall along the on-ramp.

The crash sent the car flipping over and the driver got ejected and was killed immediately. A 20-year old passenger, Brandon Baker survived the crash with moderate facial trauma and lacerations and was taken to the Western Medical Center.

The CHP is still investigating the cause of the crash.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, more men die in motor vehicle crashes compared to women and usually because men engage in more risky driving behavior such as not wearing a seatbelt, speeding and drunk-driving.

Although the cause of the crash is still under investigation, all three may have been a factor in the fatal crash which killed Avinger. He also happened to belong to the age group of male drivers (21-24 years old) who had the highest fatality rate.

Speeding alone is already a leading cause of car crashes but if you add alcohol and immaturity to the mix, the consequences are often fatal. Wearing a seatbelt may have been the only thing that could have saved Avinger’s life but failing that, he got thrown out of the vehicle and killed.

Drunk, speeding or reckless and/or negligent drivers can be held liable for any injuries incurred by the other party who got in involved in an accident.

Drivers, when they drive, owe a duty of care in operating their vehicle and the violation of DUI laws and speeding laws often places the presumption of negligence upon the drunk or speeding driver.

Living fast may seem exciting but usually, the risks that comes along with it is not worth losing your life over.

The 47-year-old Fallbrook mother dodged a bullet as she was only slapped with 3 years probation, a $300-fine, parenting class, and sessions with Mother’s Against Drunk Driving (MADD) victim panel after pleading guilty to violating the county ordinance against underage drinking parties.

The incident happened last June after Gibney threw an end of the school year party for her teenage children.

Most of those in attendance were students from Cathedral Catholic High School.

Gibney was arrested after driving an overly drunk girl to Fallbrook Hospital where the staff got suspicious and called the deputies.
Gibney tried to give a false story but the officers did not buy it. She was arrested as she was trying to leave.
When the investigators got to Gibney’s house, they found that many of the guests were underage.

Investigators were even told by some partygoers that Gibney was hesitant to call 911 after the girl felt ill.

As parents, we should be more responsible about the message we give to our children.

Not only are Gibney’s actions a bad example, it is also against the law and she was lucky that she only got a slap in the wrist as penalties.

Under the county law, if you will be serving alcohol to guests, you have to verify the age of the guests, supervise minors and control access to alcohol.

This is to prevent any more DUI related car accidents that is actually one of the leading cause of death, not only in California, but the whole US.

According to TMZ, several fans of Gomez, who trooped to Emerald Square Mall in Massachusetts to catch a glimpse of the star, were involved in an escalator accident.

It was reported that the escalator abruptly stopped and some even claimed it started going backwards fast which sent several young fans flying.

Police and firefighters assisted dozens of fans who fell down and five people were injured. Three of them were taken to the hospital for medical attention.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were as much as 11,000 escalator accidents in 2007. Majority of escalator accident injuries are caused by falls but 10 percent are caused by hands, feet or shoes that get trapped in escalators.

Most escalator accident victims are children and several have lost limbs or have gotten killed because a shoe, clothes, scarves, and shoelaces have gotten stuck in gaps in the escalator.

5-year old Kerriana Johnson from Florida was awarded millions of dollars worth of damages after she lost three fingers when her hand got sucked into a gap in the store’s escalator.

Defective, poorly maintained, or badly designed escalators cause thousands of injuries yearly. Most of these could have been avoided had the dangerous conditions of escalators been remedied or repaired.

Under the law, the owner of the property where the escalator is situated or the manufacturer of the escalator can be held liable for injuries or deaths suffered by passengers of the escalator.

A personal injury lawsuit can be filed by the victim against the establishment or company whose defective escalator caused the injury.

The fatal pedestrian accident occurred in the area of Ocean and Miramar avenues near City College while a female pedestrian survived with serious injuries after a collision with a Muni Railway 9-San Bruno bus at San Bruno Avenue and Burrows Street.

Oakland City on the other hand, also had a fatal pedestrian accident when a 45-year-old woman was killed by a hit and run driver while crossing the intersection.

Pedestrian car crash fatalities account for nearly 12 percent of all motor vehicle deaths and while the percentage may seem insignificant, as many as 4,378 people died from vehicle accidents in 2008. Also, 20 percent of these pedestrian deaths are from hit and run crashes.

In a study by the Insurance Institute Highway Safety, it was revealed that pedestrians were more likely to be at fault in collision accidents.

However, while some drivers are let off scot-free from pedestrian crashes, there are several instances wherein they can be both held criminally and civilly liable for pedestrian accident injuries or death. Here are some examples:

• The driver was violating a law (traffic lights or speed limit) when the accident occurred.
• The driver was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
• Distracted driving such as texting or talking on one’s cell phone.
• Road rage incidents wherein the driver deliberately hurts the pedestrian or uses his vehicle as a weapon.
• Hit and run accidents.

Under the following scenarios mentioned, the driver is deemed negligent and the pedestrian or in case of death, his family may sue the driver for damages.

Every driver, upon receipt of his license, has the duty and responsibility to exercise due care and diligence on the road, especially towards pedestrians.

A breach of this duty will give rise to civil liability wherein the injured pedestrian may rightfully claim compensation for his medical expenses as well as loss of wages, pain and suffering he endured as a result of the accident.

After recalling 4.2 million vehicles and suspending the sale of affected models, Toyota has announced it has found a way to fix the unintended acceleration. The problem with the faulty gas pedals were traced by the engineers to have been caused by a friction device in the assembly that is supposed to provide the proper pedal “feel” by adding resistance.

The repair, which is supposed to take about half an hour, consists of installing a steel shim a couple of millimeters thick in the pedal assembly, which will eliminate the excess friction between two pieces of the accelerator mechanism.

Toyota will shoulder the expenses of the repair and have shipped the steel shim out to the dealerships and customers with Toyota models the subject of recall are advised to wait to receive certified letters from Toyota before heading out to their nearest dealer.

Also, for consumers involved in any unintended acceleration accident with said Toyota vehicles, they may contact Toyota’s customer service at 800-331-4331 or file a complaint online with the NHTSA at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq.

Another option, for victims who have been grievously hurt or whose family member had perished in a car accident due to car defects, they can file a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death lawsuit.

Currently, there are already a number of lawsuits filed against the Japanese automaker because of their dangerously defective cars. Some suits even claim that the defect is due to the car’s electronic system.

The Toyota troubles has however, spawned a number of “Toyota lawyers” but affected drivers should be wary before engaging the services of just any lawyer. Aside from taking into consideration the benefits of a contingency fee, lawyers must be experienced in litigating product liability or car defects claims. The track record of experience must likewise be sterling because the lawyer must be good enough to have won the cases he handles.

In San Diego, a pedestrian suffered serious head injuries after he was struck by a Jaguar while crossing Federal Boulevard near Euclid Avenue in Webster.

According to the police, the accident happened shortly after 9:30 in the evening when the man suddenly stepped out from between two parked cars and walked right into oncoming traffic.

The Jaguar, which was driven by a man in his 30’s failed to stop his car in time from hitting the pedestrian. Police say that the pedestrian was drunk.

While drivers have the duty to exercise due diligence in operating their vehicles and to yield to drivers, pedestrians and bicycles who have the right of way – similarly, pedestrians have the same duty to exercise care and diligence on the road.

In a 2002 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study, pedestrians were judged to be more at fault in most pedestrian and car collisions than drivers. Most were always judged culpable in midblock and intersection dash crashes – the collision wherein a pedestrian appears suddenly in the path of a vehicle.

Also, aside from walking right into traffic or vehicles and failure to follow traffic signals, intoxicated pedestrians are also a traffic safety problem.

Based on IIHS statistics, alcohol is also a major factor in pedestrian accidents – with drunk pedestrians more to blame than drunk drivers. As much as 54 percent of pedestrians aged 16 and above who were fatally injured in nighttime crashes (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.) had high BACs.

Drunk, distracted, and impaired drivers are usually held liable for pedestrian deaths and injuries. But in situations where the roles are reversed, when the pedestrian himself is careless, distracted or drunk, there can be no valid personal injury or wrongful death claim.

Accidents can be costly, especially if you alone will bear the price for your negligence or folly.

According to the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, 864,000 pounds or 390 tons of ground-beef have been found to be tainted with E. coli and is now being recalled.

A batch of contaminated beef was found shipped by the plant from January 5 to January 15 and sold to distribution centers, restaurants and hotels in California.

Huntington Meat Packing Inc of Montebello, California produced the tainted beef. Fortunately for the company, there have been no reported illnesses or fatalities from the consumption of the product.

In 2008, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there were as many as 18,499 laboratory-confirmed cases of food-borne illnesses from ten states, including California.

E.coli bacteria - in particular - are the very common causes of food-borne illnesses which can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and kidney failure among others.

Very young children and older people are very vulnerable to it and can become seriously ill or develop severe illness and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) by ingesting food or water which has been contaminated with microscopic amounts of cow feces.

Victims of food poisoning, especially those who have been grievously affected by the contaminated food, may file a claim for damages against the food manufacturer or distributor.

You can rightfully recover medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering especially if the manufacturer or distributor was negligent in handling the food product and failed to exercise care and quality control.

Consult a product liability lawyer to find out if you can file a claim against the manufacturer. Cases like this can be tricky as sometimes, a mere stomach ache or upset stomach would not amount to a valid claim for damages.